The jury is still out on a lot of those players-in particular the forwards. Let's give credit to the a complete 180 in the Swedish development. For the better part of a decade they were in the toilet and finally decided to change some things.

I can easily list three times as many great young Canadians. Sweden's development is in no way superior to Canada's.

I'm Canadian I and I disagree, solely base on numbers. The amount of players who play in Canada compared to those in Sweden is massive. Hockey is also not the number one sport in Sweden, so some of their best athletes don't play hockey. Pound for pound/exponentially etc. Sweden is the best hockey country in the world.

I'm Canadian I and I disagree, solely base on numbers. The amount of players who play in Canada compared to those in Sweden is massive. Hockey is also not the number one sport in Sweden, so some of their best athletes don't play hockey. Pound for pound/exponentially etc. Sweden is the best hockey country in the world.

Over 550,000 registered hockey players in Canada and under 68,000 in Sweden. I'm Canadian but I'm not blind, I love the fact hockey is picking up in other countries. I want this to be a worldwide game with competition. I don't want a Canada/Soviet domination like it was for so many years.

There isn't as much pressure In Sweden. The kids get too develop they're skills, the way they want to. IMO

Somewhere in this lies the answer i think. When the kids are younger here it's all about having fun. At least that's the way it was when i was a kid. Stuf don't start to get serious untill you get older.

It's not that the training is sub par because it's about fun, but kids don't have the same pressure here like in Canada i think(just me guessing on this one).

I'm Canadian I and I disagree, solely base on numbers. The amount of players who play in Canada compared to those in Sweden is massive. Hockey is also not the number one sport in Sweden, so some of their best athletes don't play hockey. Pound for pound/exponentially etc. Sweden is the best hockey country in the world.

Well said.

I dont know if you can say Sweden is the best at developing talent but its hard not to.

why are people putting down canada? 1/3 the size but lets go make a list of the amount of Forwards and Defencemen and goalies Canada has and i assure you its more then 3x that list.

whoever the guy is thats sick of the "elitist" Canada attitude while being Canadian.

This would be better to compare Sweden v USA

Take the stats the guy posted earlier in the thread and do some math.

Canada has 550 000 registered players, Sweden has 68 000. Take 550 000/68 000 and you should get about 8. Sweden has 57 NHL players(and more on the way). Now take 8*57 and you get 456. Canada has 420 players. So if Sweden was the same size as Canada and had as many registered players we'd have more NHLers than Canada. You'd have Bosse Orrvardsson and Wille Gretzström.

Canada has 550 000 registered players, Sweden has 68 000. Take 550 000/68 000 and you should get about 8. Sweden has 57 NHL players(and more on the way). Now take 8*57 and you get 456. Canada has 420 players. So if Sweden was the same size as Canada and had as many registered players we'd have more NHLers than Canada. You'd have Bosse Orrvardsson and Wille Gretzström.

Of course the math is not 100% but it should tell you something.

Not bad for a country where most of the kids choose to play football.

Half of the registered players in Canada also play for fun. Theres probably 5x more players in Canada registered that play for fun.

You guys are taking massive Sweden bias to prove a point without looking. Hockey is Canada's biggest sport. 3x the population + being biggest sport = more players who play for "fun". Think about all the adult leagues (aka beer leagues) alone, each of them is a registered player too. Now compare those to Sweden and im sure theres much more then 3x the amount of players.

Of course canada has more registered players, but not all of them are trying to become NHL super stars. You arent proving a point showing numbers of registered players and using "fun" as Swedens excuse to have better quality.

Hockey is used as a past time here in Canada, using registered players to compare quality of hockey is ridiculous. Soccer is Swedens #1 sport? Wonder how many Swedes play soccer for "fun" as a past time and are registered to play it. Then Look at Canada and soccer. Then look at the trend.

We like hockey, Sweden likes soccer. Sweden is also good at hockey.Comparing registered players is stupid when Canada has registered players who are playing because its the sport they grew up loving and are playing for fun. Swedes play soccer instead in that point.

Half of the registered players in Canada also play for fun. Theres probably 5x more players in Canada registered that play for fun.

You guys are taking massive Sweden bias to prove a point without looking. Hockey is Canada's biggest sport. 3x the population + being biggest sport = more players who play for "fun". Think about all the adult leagues (aka beer leagues) alone, each of them is a registered player too. Now compare those to Sweden and im sure theres much more then 3x the amount of players.

Of course canada has more registered players, but not all of them are trying to become NHL super stars. You arent proving a point showing numbers of registered players and using "fun" as Swedens excuse to have better quality.

So Canadians often play for fun, but when Swedes play organized hockey, it's always srs bzns?